Mischievous Malamute Mystery Series: Books 4-6

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

“What? Whoa!” Leah sucked in a breath, her eyes wide as she turned to Decker. “You think that Blaze confronted him, based on your findings. And that’s what they were arguing about?”

“I guarantee it,” Decker replied somberly. “When I last talked to Blaze, I told him about the evidence and was on my way to show him proof, when…this occurred.”

“You must have presented a convincing argument,” I replied, careful to keep the judgment out of my tone. “And Blaze—being Blaze—couldn’t contain his disappointment or hide his emotions from his childhood friend.”

“I’m assuming so.” Decker’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Then there was the other thing.”

“What other thing?” I asked, hoping Anna hadn’t been on the mark about there being an affair.

Decker’s vibe, combined with the severity of her frown, suggested it was something else altogether. When her shoulders fell, I latched onto it—regret.

“When Blaze hired me, he didn’t know what he was dealing with. Didn’t know who to trust. Was completely out of his gourd with paranoia. Crap, at one point, I had to convince him that Anna and the Stantons were in the clear and not suspects themselves. Honestly, I think it had to do with his upbringing and that family of his—especially his father. That man—” She shook her head. “He was so distrusting that—against my better judgment—I suggested that he put me on his crew, undercover. He was up for trying anything at that point and agreed to hire me as a production assistant.”

“Didn’t the others find that strange? You weren’t even part of the original team,” Leah commented.

“Yeah, but Blaze and I hashed out everything beforehand. Anticipated every question. We doctored up enough of a background for me that the Pentagon would have been convinced but at the end of the day, it was simply his word, and their trust in it, that sealed the deal. He convinced everyone that it was a new era. New project. New genre. Which also meant fresh perspectives.

“Ultimately, the guys just wanted to ensure that Blaze was protected. Many of them had been with him from the start and they inherently distrusted outsiders. And, after what’s been going on for the past several months, I can’t say I blame them. I want Blaze protected, too.

“Anyway, the more I looked into the threats—dissected them one by one—the more it started looking like an inside job. And, when it came right down to it, it also became clear that they could have been initiated and implemented by only two people. The first being Blaze himself, which would have meant he had been basically lying to me from the start. So, for the time-being, I placed that one on the back burner. The second possibility was Bryce, his best friend.

“After further inspection of his finances, I learned Bryce was over-leveraged. And I don’t mean a second mortgage and high credit card debt type of leveraged. That could have been explained away. There were also dozens of outstanding medical bills from the antics he and Blaze had accumulated while filming their extreme sports videos.

“In the crew’s heyday, Blaze was the one who had received the bulk of the endorsements, as he was considered the name and face of their brand. Most of the others, including Bryce, followed along just to experience the vibe and chase the next adrenaline rush. Blaze came from money and though he never accepted or relied upon it, it was a safety net he could have fallen back on, had he needed to.

“The others were just surfer dudes from the valley. Most of them never graduated from high school, while the others barely squeaked their way out. Sure, some got scholarships. Cam, for example, is actually a stellar soccer player. Bryce was decent at football but never really applied himself and fell into the skateboarding and surfing crowd, preferring to ditch practice in order to catch the serious waves. That’s how he met Blaze, back when Blaze was just an extreme sports junkie with a camcorder, jumping off bridges, free-forming off cliffs, stunts like that. Bryce couldn’t help but be drawn to the allure of that lifestyle.

“Don’t get me wrong, Bryce was a decent guy—he and Blaze acted so much like brothers that most people thought they were cut from the same cloth—but when your back’s against the wall and you have to go home and admit to your wife that the payday isn’t going to come? That the kids are going to have to be pulled from their private schools and life isn’t quite the ride he’d sold her on? It’s a gnarly pill to swallow, especially for an aging x-sports dude who’d seen the last of his best days on the circuit.”

“Hold up, Decker,” Leah interjected. “You truly believed the man mutilated a pet and terrorized his own family to the point they were forced move halfway across the country?”

Decker shrugged. “I just went where the evidence took me.”

Leah glanced back at me, scrunching her nose. Like the evidence never lied. “Explain.”

Decker puffed her cheeks like a balloon, slowly releasing the air before responding. “Okay. Let’s say we overlook the bank books and the bills that were continually piling up. I tracked down loan sharks who admitted he’d been doing a significant amount of gambling and when that didn’t pay off, his line of credit was immediately cut and the debt came due.

“Like I said, at the core of his bones, Bryce was a good guy but he didn’t want to face reality or man-up and take ownership of his failures. Not to himself. Not to his family. And certainly not to Blaze. That, and he’d probably played way too many video games or watched too many action movies. He was good at what he did but also did some really stupid stuff. Case in point: I found evidence in his garage that corroborated his involvement in the threats.” Decker paused to laugh but there was no humor behind it, shaking her head. “Really stupid, incriminating evidence.”

“You broke into his garage?” I asked.

Decker snorted. “You can’t break into something that was left wide open.” I shook my head, casting a frown into the rearview mirror. Based upon her smug return, my judgment was not lost on her. “Let’s just say that I knew—no matter how—that his wife had been on his case about fixing the broken garage door, which had been stuck in the open position for months.

“She was equally pissed that he refused to clean the garage, claiming the broken door allowed the entire neighborhood to bear witness to their dirty laundry. Anyway, when she moved back home with her folks, I just happened to be in the neighborhood and decided to stop by Bryce’s for a quick hello. As luck would have it, he wasn’t home.”

Leah snorted. “You don’t really strike me as the welcome wagon type.”

Decker smirked at the sarcasm but shrugged. “Whatever. A neighborhood cat could have gone in and pissed on it all. The garage was left open to the public. And it told quite the story. For every threat Blaze and his guys received, there was a piece of evidence in there that linked directly back to Bryce.”

“Such as?” Leah prompted.

Decker shook her head. “No offense but I’d prefer to keep the specifics to myself, for now.” Before we could protest, she added, “It’s not a matter of trust. It’s for your own safety—the fewer people who know—the better.”

“That’s an interesting point. What if the perp knew the same things you did about Bryce and realized he could be an easy patsy?” I asked.

She nodded. “That could very well be true. And until a couple of hours ago, he had me convinced.”

Something else was nagging at me. If Bryce had hidden his financial situation from his family, he may have been embarrassed to discuss it with his closest friends.

“What if you were right, Decker? What if Bryce knew the jig was up and when Blaze confronted him—”

“And he purposely plunged off that cliff?” Decker shook her head. “I don’t see it. He may have let his family down in the past, but he wouldn’t have left them with nothing.”

“How could he even get a life insurance policy, considering the risks associated with his choice of career?” Leah asked.

“I have no idea,” Decker replied, frowning as she added, “but somehow he managed to get a fat daddy of one. And recently.”

“That is interesting—what if that was a nugget you were privy to that the perp wasn’t?” I wondered, realizing after-the-fact that I’d sputtered it out loud.

“Yeah, well, I have friends in high places.” Decker managed to pull that response off without sounding conceited. It was, to her, just a matter of fact. “Then again, he may have had the information but deemed it irrelevant.”

“Or just didn’t care,” Leah replied.

“Exactly.” Decker nodded.

“Perhaps we should be more concerned with where he plans to go from here.” I hated to admit it but considering the players—and the transition from random threats to mutilation to premeditated murder—the odds had not only shifted, they were currently in his favor. And while Decker may have had her resources, it was quite clear he had a few tricks in his bag, too.

“There’s one other thing I should probably mention.”

This time, I sensed a bit of apprehension from Decker as she white-knuckled the steering wheel. I glanced at Leah but we both remained silent until she continued.

“Blaze recently revealed—actually right before I told him about my suspicions—that Bryce had drawn the same conclusion Anna had—that Blaze was having an affair, with me.” She let out a harsh laugh. “Whatever he and Anna saw, or thought they saw, we must have been way too convincing.”

I nodded absently. Decker was right, it would have almost been comical, had things not turned out as they had. So much devastation—families, relationships, lives.

“Was Bryce above threatening to reveal what he knew to Anna?” Leah asked.

“You know how guys are—always giving each other crap about something.” She paused, her brow creasing. “Now that you mention it, I do remember one particular snark Bryce dished out, something about watching his p’s and q’s with the hired help. Now, putting it into perspective, Bryce could have easily meant me.”

“Do you think Blaze told Bryce who you were and why you were there during their confrontation?” I asked.

“Possibly. When I told Blaze my suspicions about Bryce, he got pretty revved up, told me I was wrong and even called me out when I outlined everything for him. I told him I would handle the confrontation with Bryce if he preferred but he said no, that he would deal with it—almost blamed himself for having the investigation turn out like it had.” Decker shook her head. “Perhaps he felt guilty about what had been sitting in front of him all along.”

We shook our heads but we understood the bonds, aware of the strain that secrets—no matter the reason—placed on those bonds. We’d definitely been there and done that.

Leah reached back and gripped my hand and we sat there like that for a moment before any of us spoke.

Finally, I broke the silence. “In my experience, you can’t see something that’s been carefully, intentionally hidden. Something, whether tangible or emotional, that someone doesn’t want you to see. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how strong you think the bond is or what it can endure.”

“Sounds like you know a thing or two about it and can understand where Blaze was coming from,” Decker replied.

“Yeah, I think both of us have certainly had our share—and fill—of secrets,” I murmured, as Leah squeezed my hand harder.

As of late, our lives had been filled with them, as they continually oozed into and negatively impacted everyone we cared about. And after my last go-around, I wasn’t sure I was up for another shift on the ice. I would rather get smacked in the face with a puck than lose one more person. Right now, I was clasping hands with one of the few I had left.

I released Leah’s hand and swatted at the annoying moisture that threatened the corner of my eye but not before Decker caught my reflection. She held my gaze and as I’d come to expect, her expression was undecipherable as she returned her focus the road.

Leah caught the exchange and casually shifted the discussion. “We understand why Blaze wanted to address your findings with Bryce personally. Maybe it was his way of letting Bryce come clean in private, though perhaps Bryce saw it as a betrayal of their friendship.”

Decker frowned. “Unfortunately, based on what you witnessed at the beach, I’m assuming that is exactly what happened. He probably called Bryce out, if not fired him, and outed me at the same time. Then again, assumption…”

“You seriously need to let that go, Decker,” Leah huffed out. “You did your job and all three of us have been around the block enough to realize this jerk is acting out of something we can’t even begin to understand.”

Decker focused intently—too intently—on driving. Something was clearly bothering her.

“Were you trying to avoid Blaze at the crash site? Or making sure he avoided seeing you?” My questions had the desired effect, as her eyes flashed to the rearview mirror.

“I don’t hide from anything,” she replied. “Or anyone.”

Leah tapped her chin. “You may not have done so consciously, but it certainly wouldn’t have helped matters, if Blaze had realized you were at the scene. You’ve already encountered Anna’s reaction and she hadn’t even been in on confronting Bryce.”

“No, I suppose not.”

Something else occurred to me. “Do you think the real perp suspected, or even knew, who you were and led you down the path he wanted you to go? To ensure this was the outcome?”

Decker shrugged. “Anything’s possible at this point, but the question is…why? What would have been the point?” She thrummed her fingers against the steering wheel, before adding, “Let’s say you’re on the right track and I’d gathered all the crumbs he laid out for me, exactly the way he wanted me to, when he wanted me to. And then, I was able put all the parts and pieces together in the timeframe he needed me to in order to make it appear as though Bryce was responsible for everything—knowing that once I did, I would immediately report my findings to Blaze—it means he would have also researched their relationship thoroughly enough to know Blaze would insist on confronting his friend directly.

“And upon being wrongly accused, that Bryce would have reacted the way he would—storming away and jumping on his bike so that he could get away from the situation and blow off steam.” Decker paused to catch her breath, then added, “Which means the perp was prepared to fabricate a suicide, playing to the fact that after being confronted by his best friend, Bryce wasn’t about to become a caged animal and elected the only other option in his toolkit.

“Having said that, wouldn’t the threats theoretically stop, once the police ruled it as a suicide?”

“If we’re talking about a rational, sane individual…sure,” Leah replied.

Decker shook her head. “Then, I ask again…why? Why did they do it? I seriously doubt all of this was about making Blaze suffer for his best friend’s death, which will most definitely not be ruled as a suicide, if faking a suicide was even what they had originally intended.”

“If it was, it means they weren’t aware of Bryce’s recent life insurance policy, or the suicide clause,” I added. “As you mentioned, there was no way Bryce would have left his family high and dry. And though I didn’t know the man personally, based on the company he kept and the reactions everyone had, it seems unlikely he would have willingly left his family, much less used suicide as a way to escape his problems, especially if he’d done nothing illegal.”

“Perhaps the perp’s original intention was to slow the production down,” Leah offered.

“Okay, I get that, but if this is all about the project itself, even if a crew member’s death slowed Blaze down—made him rethink his priorities or put production on the back burner—it only was only a temporary fix for the perp. In the end, it raises another problem…once Bryce is found and his death ruled a homicide, he would also be cleared as the perpetrator of the threats.”

I was glad that Decker was open to our style of banter—tossing random ideas back and forth—without getting all bunched up about marking her territory or needing to place blame or judgment. Honestly, time was not our friend and to be frank, she had been the one asking for the audience and should have had the cajones to understand that we were genuinely there willing to help and offer assistance, no matter how limited, to help our friend, Anna.

She nodded at my assessment. “Absolutely, which also means the investigators will likely start looking elsewhere once law enforcement wraps up their investigation of the accident site. Within a matter of days, they will start looking for the ‘why’ and the ‘who,’ if they haven’t already.”

“The cops will certainly want to talk to you, Decker, especially after Blaze shares his version of things. And once they sift through the evidence that led you to believe it was Bryce, they’ll focus their attention on other possible suspects.” I paused, before adding, “We need to be one step ahead, because the person or persons responsible have already anticipated this and have the means to go underground until the circus surrounding it dies down. We need to use this time to catch up with them, figure out their end game and head them off before they make their presence felt again. At the end of the day, they may have temporarily whet their appetite but they’re nowhere near finishing the meal.”

Leah nodded. “Let’s start with the evidence framing Bryce and work our way back. How did they get access to the information? Why did they need a scapegoat that was on the inside and/or why did they select Bryce? Is it business? Or personal? A way to get back at Blaze for something—something that we haven’t addressed yet? Because AJ is right, whatever their end game, they haven’t reached it and for as far as they’ve already been willing to go, they are not about to stop now. They’ll just redirect their efforts.”

“Or start changing the rules of the game,” I replied.

The perp may have made one crucial error with Bryce and even though we were stronger in numbers now, our defense would not be able to fight an offense that we couldn’t see coming.

“Then, like you suggested, we need to figure out who is behind this,” she replied.

Leah and I nodded.

Once we figured out ‘who,’ hopefully, the ‘why’ would fall into place.